HELLO FROM AMERICA

[DOUG DUVALL]

TO ALL THE NEW FRIENDS IN ENGLAND,

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. MY NAME IS DOUG DUVALL. I LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN IN OHIO, USA & WE ARE DRAWN TOGETHER WITH A COMMONALITY CALLED FLYFISHING. I HAVE, OVER THE YEARS, BEEN READING ABOUT THE HALLOWED WATERS & THE MEN WHO HAVE FISHED THEM OF ENGLAND. FASCINATING! WHAT A RICH HERITAGE & TRADITION. I AM A LITTLE HESITANT TO SAY OUT LOUD MY FAVORITE BRITISH AUTHOR(S) FOR FEAR OF SCORN. WE ALL HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL THAT WE GRAVITATE TOWARD IN FLYFISHING (I.E. DRYFLY ONLY, WETFLY ONLY, LAKE FISHING VS. STREAMS OR SMALL PONDS). I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BEFORE I BLOW OFF AT THE MOUTH WHERE I STAND WITH SUCH A DISTINGUISHED GROUP.

I HAVE MANY QUESTIONS CONCERNING HISTORIES OF PATTERNS & THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED THEM & ABOUT THE WATERS BOTH RUNNING & STILL OF WHICH YOU SEEM TO BE SO RICHLY BLESSED. MAYBE, THROUGH CASUAL OBSERVING OF THESE BOARDS & THE OCCASIONAL QUESTION OR TWO, I CAN GAIN SOME INSIGHT INTO YOUR WORLD OF FLYFISHING AS IT GOES IN GREAT BRITAIN. IF I AM OUT OF LINE IN INQUIRING OF SUCH PLEASE TELL ME SO RIGHT OFF.

I WILL CHECK OUT THESE POSTS NIGHTLY FOR ANY RESPONSES.

YOURS IN THE SPIRIT OF ANGLING WITH THE LONG RODS,

DOUG DUVALL U.S.A.

[Colin Brett]

DOUG DUVALL:

TO ALL THE NEW FRIENDS IN ENGLAND,

ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF.  MY NAME IS DOUG DUVALL.  

I WILL CHECK OUT THESE POSTS NIGHTLY FOR ANY RESPONSES.

YOURS IN THE SPIRIT OF ANGLING WITH THE LONG RODS,

DOUG DUVALL   U.S.A.

Hi Doug,

Welcome to Anglers Net! Hopefully you will find all you seek here, unfortunately I don't have the answers to your questions, but, as we say over here "I know a man that does". I will post his email to you in the near future. I just need to ask him for his permission to do so.

Have a look at www.rogans.com [i think] for hand tied Irish Flies [Very old Irish company] also look for the Fly Tyers Guild via search engines, lots of useful contacts.

Extremely Tight Lines,

Colin

In the nicest terms I can think of, did you know your Caps Lock is on?

[DOUG DUVALL]

Colin,

Many thanks to you for the interesting web-sites.

I will try them as time permits. I am having a little difficulty with the time difference between here & there. When I posted last, the clock on main menu of the message board said that my message had been issued at 4:22 a.m. the previous day. It was appx. 11:22 p.m. from where I sat. Would that be correct?

Yes, I was aware that my caplocks was on. It's a habit I have fallen into. Over here, it is said that when that happens, you are yelling at someone. Believe me, I am yelling at none of you!

I am looking forward to "listening in" once in a while to these posts & I hope you do not mind the occasional question from a rank amateur such as myself.

Remember to "Fish when you can, not only when you should"!

Best Regards,

Doug Duvall

[Spiderfan]

Hi Doug and welcome.

 

Isn't it strange the way we sometimes like to think the grass is greener on the other side. I dream of Rotorura, Kenai, Henry's Fork, Montana's freestone streams . . .

 

There's more tradition than substance here I'm afraid.

[framey]

spider how come your not posting on the other trout site anymore

 

by the way hi there in the US of A

 

[ 08 March 2002, 03:01 PM: Message edited by: framey ]

[Spiderfan]

Hi Framey,

 

Which site do you mean? F&F or WTFF? I do still post occasionally, though I seem to do more lurking nowadays . . . )

[Newt]

Doug - the UK is 5 hours ahead of Ohio. It is wonderful too. You can always sneak in a post around 10PM when most of these folks are sound asleep.

 

And welcome to the BBS. Always nice to have someone else on here who does not have one of those funny accents.

 

And have no fear - if anyone ever thinks you are "out of line" they won't hesitate to say so.

 

Afraid I can't help you out much with the fluff stuff though. I do sunfish with a light fly rod these days. Did largemouth that way before spinning rods became common but not since then. I just enjoy reading what these guys have to say.

 

What sort of fish do you normally target with the fly? Another US poster (nightwing from Michigan) does steelhead, salmon, and carp.

[Colin Brett]

Doug,

My part of the UK is East Anglia [the bit that sticks out towards Holland etc] fairly low lying and with very few trout streams or rivers. Mainly reservoir fishing here or small lakes. Mainly stocked rainbows and a few browns. Use search engine for Grafham Water Fly Fishing Assoc. [gwffa] and also Rutland Water fly fishers. You will find links to many different waters and hopefully an insight into the trout fishing scene over here in the east of England.

Our season is just starting and I have had 1 trip to a small reservoir, Ravensthorpe in Northampton shire, so far. It's catch and release, I caught and released 3 rainbows to about 2lbs. Next w/end sees another reservoir open [Pitsford again in N/hampton], the Grafham Water website gives all the details of openings and the various combinations of options available to the trout angler.

Hope this helps,

Colin

[DOUG DUVALL]

Friends,

Wow! These responses have been great! Newt, you asked about how & what I fish for here in the states. I would like to answer that one first if I may.

In the area where I live, which is in the southestern side of the state of Ohio, there are no native trout. None. Our gracious state & federal fisheries fellows stock our local lakes (not too many streams though) with mainly rainbow trout. They are trucked in every spring feb/mar/apr & dumped into the lakes at differing spots. The fish, if left alone, usually disperse quite well over the next week or so after they are planted. Trolling with spinners or baiting your hook with corn or marshmellows or "powerbait" is usually the norm in taking these fish. Rarely, are any taken on the flyrod from either a boat or shore. I have taken trout this way & it's o.k. It is definately a "put & take" fishery. By early summer, one can hardly catch a trout in either the shallows or the deep.

I truly don't know where they go or what happens to them (assuming some make it past the eager fishermen). One does not hear of hold over trout too often.

The species of fish I like to take in the lakes & ponds are largemouth bass, black & white crappie, & bluegill. Forgive me folks, catfish & carp just do not seem all that interesting to me. I grew up fishing for both of these species but I don't persue them much anymore.

In the streams around my home we have smallmouth bass. We have lots of other fish living in these streams with carp & catfish & white bass all occupying the same space in the stream as our beloved smallie. For him, I fish with the flyrod & the spinning rod.

In & around my home (I live in the country) I have several small ponds which our locals stock (but not on any regular basis) with bluegill, largemouth bass & crappie. The bluegill is my all-time favorite because of his willingness to readily take a great variety of my flies that are offered to him. I have fished for them twelve months out of the year with winters being occasionally kind & the waters remaining open.

We are blessed with abundant rainfall & many good waters to fish & for that I am eternally greatful. I have fished many other waters in this great land of ours but not as often as I would like. I particularly like matching time honored traditional patterns to our local ponds & lakes & we even "match the hatch" when appropriate (which isn't too often unfortunately). Enough about me. I would like to talk sometime about the tackle and flies that I use & compare notes with all of you.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am very interested in author/anglers such as G.E.M. Skues, F.M. Halford, and others more contemporary too! Can anyone offer insights, likes & dislikes, comments pro or con? I am hungry for any info. I can get my hands on.

Thank you for listening. More later if you would like more ramblings.

Doug

[Newt]

Doug - you know, if the bluegill ever got large, they would quickly become the most sought after game fish (that is US game fish folks, not the UK meaning) in the country. Best pound-for-pound fighter I know of but never get big and rarely over 1/2 lb. Darn it.

 

Hopefully some fly-fishing type will give you some good information here.

 

And BTW - if you are posting a long bit, it really helps in reading it if there are blank lines between paragraphs and the paragraphs are shorter than you would normally make them.

 

As you have already noted, you have happened on a very friendly angling site here. Good folks and many who know a bunch about various types of fishing - and are happy to share what they know. I've been a regular here for a couple of years now and have learned quite a bit. And gotten to know some really nice people.

 

I don't know Ohio at all. Never even driven thru there as far as I can remember. I did date a great gal in high school who had moved from somewhere in Ohio to rural Arkansas though. If she was typical, you people have a really teriffic state up there.

 

For you UK folks, Ohio is Northern so he isn't a "southern softie" like I am. LOL